My family and I were invited to tour the Food & Wine Festival at Busch Gardens last weekend, and we had the best time! My husband and I are big foodies, so we were both excited to get the inside scoop on the festival and see behind the scenes. I can certainly say that the team behind Busch Gardens put so much effort into making this event such a success! It really is the culinary event of the summer that you need to taste for yourself.
The festival consists of 15 food & beverage kiosks in addition to the Pairings of Note tasting. Guests are able to enjoy authentic tastes from around the world while strolling through the world’s most beautiful theme park. It really is so beautiful! Individual tasting portions make exploring all that the Food & Wine Festival has to offer easy. The hardest decision might just be deciding what to eat first. This is very true! I suggest picking a starting point and going full circle. There are many food & beverage items to choose from at each kiosk as well. You can pick up a festival map and full menu at any of the stations. Menus are also listed online and can be viewed here.
Since there are so many amazing eats to try, I recommend getting one of the two sampler options.
Food & Beverage Sampler – Mix and match 10 entrées, desserts or beverages* from any of our Food & Wine kiosks.
Deluxe Food & Beverage Sampler – Mix and match 15 entrées, desserts or beverages* from any of our Food & Wine kiosks.
Please note that the beverages include 10 oz. beer, 4 oz. wine or 10 oz. specialty beverage samples. Samplers do not include shots, frozen beverages and cocktails. Wine and scotch tasting locations are excluded from the Samplers and sold separately.
We enjoyed taking our time throughout the whole day, stopping at each kiosk to check it out, and even going back to a few of our favorites. It is best to make a day out of it and really soak it all in. A few of our favorites were the Caribbean, Canadian, Indian, and German kiosks. As I mentioned before there is so much to choose from, you are sure to find something you love and also to discover new and exciting flavors!
New experiences this year are the Pairings of Note and the Chef Demonstrations.
During the Pairings of Note, wine ambassadors help in pairing wines and food, from Pinot Noir and mushroom ravioli to Cabernet Sauvignon and pepper crusted roast beef. You can make a reservation and enjoy six samples pairing different foods with wine as a live band fills Castle O’Sullivan with festive music. This event runs about 1 hr and 15 minutes.
During the chef demos, learn how some of your favorite dishes are prepared. See professional chefs in action during these periodic chef demonstrations in Germany, Oktoberfest, Italy and Ireland. Attending guests will receive complimentary bite-sized samples of dishes.
Visit Busch Gardens and enjoy the Food & Wine Festival Fridays, Saturdays, & Sundays now through July 2nd.
My family and I were provided with passes to visit the park on behalf of Seaworld Parks & Entertainment in exchange for my review and promotion. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.
